A man and a woman in their 40s were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries this morning following a two-alarm fire in a west-end rooming house.

Crews responded to the blaze at Dundas St. and Gladstone Ave. shortly before 8 a.m. The fire was “well advanced” by the time they arrived, according to Toronto Fire district chief Neil Gallagher.

“When we arrived on scene there was a report of two people trapped in the building and a kitchen fire. Very quickly we laddered the building and they passed one female victim out the third-floor front window,” said Gallagher.

Crews attempted CPR but were unable to resuscitate the woman on-scene, said Gallagher. Both were rushed to hospital.

“The fire was well advanced. It was burned right through the floor and flames were rolling up the stairs,” said Gallagher.

Toronto Fire Capt. Mike Strapko said a baby was handed out a window during the rescue.

Deana Tanner, a visually impaired tenant, narrowly escaped with her life.

“I don’t even have my cane or my glasses or anything,” she said. “Everything is inside.”

About 10 people live in the building, according to residents. The man and woman who were taken to hospital lived on the third floor.

Gallagher said the Fire Marshal’s office will be investigating and trying to determine if the building had working smoke alarms.

Danny Lindborg and his girlfriend Janice Arsenault live on the second floor of the building. Arsenault phoned 911 and started yelling to alert the other residents as Lindborg searched for an escape.

“We didn’t know what to do. I was tying bed sheets together and getting ready to crawl out or jump out (the window),” he said.

Neighbour Jon Maki saw smoke billowing out of the house’s windows.

“It only took a few seconds for me to realize we had a ladder tall enough in our stairwell,” said Maki. He grabbed the ladder and ran over, putting it up against the house so Lindborg and Arsenault could descend to safety.

“After the fact both the police and fire department let me know that if it wasn't for me, it would have been very close,” said Maki.

“People come together in times of need, it’s just great,” said Lindborg.